7 injured, I-795 jammed when pickup strikes car

Five people remained hospitalized today from injuries suffered in a two-vehicle collision that shut down Interstate 795 and blocked the Baltimore Metro for more than two hours yesterday during the afternoon traffic rush hour.

Three of the injured were riding in the bed of a pickup truck, which broke off and went down a 30-foot embankment. In all, seven were injured in the 4:30 p.m. accident -- five of six men riding in the truck, along with the driver and passenger of a 1990 Mazda. Four of the six men still were in the Shock-Trauma Unit in Baltimore today, while the Mazda passenger remained at Baltimore County General Hospital in Randallstown.

The accident occurred when the pickup truck, driven by Kenneth Hardrick, 44, of Baltimore, collided with the Mazda, driven by Jennifer Lynn Kolb, 16, of Westminster, said Chuck Jackson, State Police spokesman. Both vehicles were northbound.

"The bed portion of the pickup truck disengaged from the chassis," Jackson said. "The impact of the collision severed that portion of the chassis, which went over the jersey wall and fell approximately 30 feet."

Rescuers took about an hour to free the three men in the truck bed, Jackson said. In Shock Trauma today were: Boris Glispy, 26, in satisfactory condition; Kevin Greene, 27, in fair condition; and Gregory Herring, 27, also fair. All three men are from Baltimore.

The driver, Hardrick, was in serious but stable condition. A front-seat passenger, Frank Lawson, 26, also of Baltimore, was discharged from Shock-Trauma today. Another front-seat passenger, Charles Lowery, 40, also of Baltimore, was not injured, Jackson said.

Kolb and her mother, Jacqueline L. Newhouse, 39, were taken to Baltimore County General Hospital, where Kolb was treated and released. Newhouse was in satisfactory condition today. Jackson said no charges had been filed, pending completion of an investigation.